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Wake-Up Call: Bowl matchups starting to take shape

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Tampa's Outback Bowl could be a battle of the ages, pitting Lane Kiffin, 34, against Joe Paterno, 82.

By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2009

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The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

Lane Kiffin was in diapers when Joe Paterno celebrated his 50th birthday. What could they possibly have in common?

How about a trip to this season's Outback Bowl?

We're speculating, of course, because four weekends of college football still remain. But Tampa's New Year's Day game could be staging an ultimate battle for the ages.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, 82 years young, has 391 career victories and his Nittany Lions should finish 10-2.

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, 34, is winding down a rather audacious first season on Rocky Top. If the Volunteers win at Ole Miss on Saturday, they should be 8-4 and on a major upswing.

Penn State vs. Tennessee.

Outback Bowl CEO Jim McVay, of course, isn't in the speculation business. But with the bowl's connections to the Big Ten Conference and the SEC, he believes it has a winning formula. That's why the bowl recently extended its agreement with the Big Ten and is on the verge of doing so with the SEC.

Here's how we see the bowl picture shaping up.

BCS Championship Game – Florida vs. Texas.

The Gators and Longhorns remain on a collision course to settle the issue of No. 1 at a classic setting – Pasadena, Calif. We think Florida outlasts Alabama in an epic defensive-minded SEC Championship Game. Texas will cruise past the Big 12 North representative – either Kansas State or Nebraska.

Orange Bowl – Georgia Tech vs. Iowa.

Georgia Tech, which seems destined for a meeting against Clemson on Dec. 5 in the ACC Championship Game at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium, would be locked to Miami as the league champion. The Orange Bowl, which picks first in the BCS rotation after all the automatic bids and replacement teams are situated, should go with a probable 10-2 Iowa team and its still-energized fan base.

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. TCU.

The Fiesta Bowl will lose its tie-in with the Big 12 champion if Texas is elevated to the BCS Championship Game. The replacement? How about USC? The Trojans still can get to 10-2 with victories against Stanford, UCLA and Arizona. If TCU defeats Utah on Saturday, the Horned Frogs are looking at 12-0, the Mountain West Conference title and an automatic BCS bowl bid.

Sugar Bowl – Alabama vs. Pittsburgh.

The SEC champion is tied to New Orleans. With Florida elevated to the BCS Championship Game, a one-loss Alabama team slides in neatly. The opponent is our choice as Big East champion, the Pittsburgh Panthers, which would finish 11-1 if they defeat Notre Dame, West Virginia and Cincinnati (in the de facto Big East title game). Somehow, Pittsburgh lost at N.C. State.

Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Ohio State.

The Rose Bowl gets its traditional Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup. Oregon was embarrassed in a 51-42 loss at Stanford, but still controls its Pac-10 destiny and wins the league title by defeating Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State. Ohio State has what looks like a winner-take-all game against Iowa on Saturday – and the game is at Columbus. Strangely, of Ohio State's last 21 bowl appearances, only one was at the Rose Bowl.

At this point, given this scenario, there are two clear losers.

• Boise State. The Broncos probably will finish 12-0, but they have nothing to brag about after their season-opening defeat against Oregon. If TCU finishes unbeaten, the Horned Frogs will get the nod as the automatic qualifier from a non-BCS league. The BCS is under no obligation to select another non-BCS team.

• Cincinnati. We're projecting the Bearcats to lose at Pittsburgh on Dec. 5. It seems outrageous for an 11-1 Bearcat team to be rejected by the major bowls, but 10-2 teams such as USC and Iowa will get selected over a non-traditional Big East program such as Cincinnati. Is that fair? Of course not. But whoever said the BCS was fair?

And now, some selected non-BCS bowls.

Capital One Bowl – Wisconsin vs. LSU. Bratwurst vs. gumbo.

Outback Bowl – Penn State vs. Tennessee. Joe Paterno is 3-0 in Tampa.

Gator Bowl – Miami vs. Notre Dame. Notre Dame has vanished from the BCS picture, so Jacksonville gladly takes the Irish.

St. Petersburg Bowl – South Florida vs. Central Florida. USF has three difficult opponents remaining – road dates at Rutgers and Connecticut, plus a home game against Miami – so we're projecting an 8-4 finish. A repeat appearance at Tropicana Field isn't ideal, but USF-UCF would generate local interest, so why not?

So there you have it.

Our bowl projections (four weekends ahead of the fact).

And here are the three most important words of all.

Subject to change.

Henson debuts at UNC

University of North Carolina freshman John Henson (Sickles) had his college-basketball debut on Monday night, when the Tar Heels defeated Florida International University 88-72. Henson, a 6-foot-10 freshman forward, played 12 minutes, scoring four points (on 2-for-3 shooting). He had one rebound, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.

Cooley off to fast start

East Tennessee State University's Sheldon Cooley (Plant), a 6-foot-3 freshman guard, is off to a fast start in two exhibition games. Monday night, Cooley had 13 points (5-for-9 shooting, 21 minutes) in ETSU's 81-65 victory against Carson-Newman.

Last week, Cooley had 19 points (on 8-for-14 shooting with five rebounds and three steals) in a 113-61 exhibition win against Milligan College.

"Cooley grows on you,'' ETSU coach Murry Bartow said. "He's not a 'wow' guy, but tonight he kind of wowed me. He has a chance to be very good.''

The ETSU Bucs have two other Tampa Bay area connections.

Sophomore Adam Sollazzo (Armwood) had 15 points against Milligan, then four points and six rebounds against Carson-Newman.

Freshman Lukas Poderis (Ridgewood) had 14 points and 10 rebounds against Milligan, then eight points and five rebounds against Carson-Newman.

Arenas honored by SEC

University of Alabama senior cornerback Javier Arenas (Robinson) has become renowned for his punt-return abilities (he's chasing the SEC's all-time career record and has a shot at the national record as well).

But Monday, Arenas was recognized for his defensive skills when he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week.

"I think honorable mention was the closest I've gotten to the mountaintop,'' Arenas said.

Arenas had seven tackles – with two for a loss – and a quarterback pressure in Saturday's 24-15 victory against LSU. Arenas is tied for second in the SEC with 10.5 tackles for a loss.

"It breaks his heart when he doesn't do it right,'' Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said. "It really means something to him. He really wants to be a guy who helps the team any way he can. He plays a lot of roles for us – corner, nickel back, return man – and he makes a positive contribution in every area.''

Vann on the scoreboard again

History will record Saturday as the time when Florida A&M return man LeRoy Vann (Blake) tied a pair of Football Championship Subdivision records with his 51-yard punt return score in a 31-27 comeback victory against North Carolina A&T.

Vann will remember Saturday as the time when his frustration finally ended.

After being featured on ESPN, after appearing in Sports Illustrated, Vann went five straight games without scoring a touchdown.

"It relieves a whole lot of frustration,'' Vann told the Tallahassee Democrat. "With them (kickers) kicking away from me, I had to work on calming down and take one play at a time.''

It was Vann's fifth punt-return touchdown this season, tying the FCS record of North Carolina A&T's Curtis DeLoach in 2001, and eighth of his career, tying another FCS record.

Patriot League record for Rodriguez

Lafayette University junior place-kicker Davis Rodriguez (St. Petersburg Catholic) earned his fifth career Patriot League special teams player of the week – a conference record – after scoring 10 points in a 56-49 win against Colgate.

Rodriguez, who had successful field-goal attempts of 33 and 34 yards, along with six extra points, has earned the award three times this season.

Parrott honored as top punter

Northern State University junior Thomas Parrott (Plant) was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division's first-team all-conference punter and second-team place-kicker. Parrott averaged 39.4 yards per punt (with 14 downed inside the 20-yard line) and made seven of 11 field-goal attempts.

Northern State is an NCAA Division II school in Aberdeen, S.D.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former River Ridge High School and USF football player Ryan Benjamin, who served as the Bucs' long snapper in Super Bowl XXXVII. Wednesday, Benjamin turns 32.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Monday's trivia question:

The Bucs now have 21 all-time regular-season victories against the Green Bay Packers after Sunday's 38-28 win at Raymond James Stadium. That is second all-time for the Bucs, who have 25 victories against the Detroit Lions.

Tuesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Which four teams are tied for the most appearances (four) at the Outback Bowl?

Check for the answer in Wednesday's Wake-Up Call.

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